(a) The State Department of Social Services shall make a one-time grant payment in the amount of six hundred dollars ($600) to each grant recipient, as defined in subdivision (b) as of the eligibility date. The grant payments may be made in the form and manner determined by the department, including establishing the eligibility date and contracting with one or more entities.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “grant recipient” means one of the following:
(1) An assistance unit as defined in Section 11450.16 under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9).
(2) Subject to subdivision (e), a recipient of benefits provided under the Cash Assistance Program for Aged, Blind, and Disabled Legal Immigrants (Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 18937) of Part 6 of Division 9).
(3) Subject to subdivision (e), a recipient of benefits under the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Program (SSI/SSP) (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) of Part 3 of Division 9). A payment issued pursuant to this paragraph shall be issued as a one-time increase, in the amount of six hundred dollars ($600), to a payment received under the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSP), as described in Section 12201.7.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the receipt of a payment under this section shall be treated in the same manner as the federal earned Income Tax Credit for the purpose of determining eligibility to receive benefits under Division 9 (commencing with Section 10000) of the Welfare and Institutions Code or amounts of those benefits.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the receipt of a payment authorized pursuant to this section shall not be taken into account as income, and shall not be taken into account as resources for a period of 12 months from receipt, for purposes of determining the eligibility of that individual, or any other individual, for benefits or assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assistance, under any state or local program not covered in subdivision (c). With respect to a state or local program, this subdivision shall only be implemented to the extent that it does not conflict with federal law relating to that program, and that any required federal approval or waiver is first obtained for that program.
(e) Pursuant to Section 18941, a recipient eligible to receive a grant payment under paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall not receive the grant payment unless the department is able to issue grant payments under both paragraphs (2) and (3).
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, for purposes of Section 10850, the activities in furtherance of this section are directly connected with the administration of public social services. Information may be disclosed as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. Information disclosed pursuant to this section shall be limited to that information necessary to implement this section.
(g) (1) Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(2) Contracts or grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual and shall not be subject to the approval of the State Department of General Services.
(h) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the State Department of Social Services may implement, interpret, or make specific this section by means of all-county letters or similar written instructions, which shall be exempt from submission to or review by the Office of Administrative Law. These all-county letters or similar instructions shall have the same force and effect as regulations.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 15, Sec. 1. (SB 86) Effective April 16, 2021.)